What's on this Week?
Amesbury Community Gathering - Friday 5-7pm
Our next Amesbury Community gathering will be held this Friday (18 November) on the sports field starting at 5pm.
There will be lots of activities and, apart from spending time with one another, the highlight will be CJ's hangi. This will be available from 5.15pm onwards for those who have already pre-purchased their tickets. Additionally, there will be a bouncy castle and a range of sports equipment available. If you haven't ordered the hangi, bring a family picnic and, as a bonus, school will provide everyone with a Mr Whippy ice cream cone.
Northern Zone Athletics
All the best to of our 32 athletes competing in the Northern Zone athletics on Monday (14 November) at Newtown Park. You fully deserve to have qualified and we know that you will do your absolute best and represent Amesbury and your whānau with pride. Kia kaha!
Book Fair - Final Days
Our Book Fair has only 2 more days to run - this Monday & Tuesday.
If you haven't already checked out the wide range of book available you can do so both before and after school on those days, after which all the books will be packed up and we will all have to wait another year for its return.
Teachers' Paid Union Meeting - Thursday 17 November
On Thursday afternoon this week, lessons will be a little different as a number of teachers will be away at a union meeting as part of their next round of collective agreement negotiations.
School will remain open and sufficiently staffed to ensure that our ākonga (students) are properly provided for, however, due to the reduced numbers of teachers, the afternoon programme will look quite different.
Wellington Breeze 'Pack the Bus' Donation Drive
The annual Wellington Breeze 'Pack the Bus' Donation Drive is on again this month.
From Monday (14 November) there will be a collection point in the office foyer for you to drop off some essential goodies to help out those that need extra support around Christmas.
What to drop off? There is a comprehensive list here of those things needed.
The bus will be along on Monday 28 November to make the collection, so please don't leave it too long to drop off a little something that will go a long way to help out some of our Wellington families. Ka pai Amesbury whānau.
Library Books
The library is looking for everyone to return their books prior to the stock take which will start on 27 November.
Please look round for any library books or school readers that you may have at home and return them prior to the stock take.
Calling all adventure, adrenaline-seeking tamariki!
The Tough Guy & Gal Junior Challenge returns to Camp Wainui next year and we wish to get a sense of how many students would be interested in taking part.
With registrations opening on the first day of Term 2023, we would like to have an idea of numbers in advance so that we don't miss out. If your child would love to run through water trails, crawl under obstacles, clamber through tunnels, wade through swamp crossings and pull themselves up hill climbs please register them by completing this expression of interest form.
Your child must therefore be okay with being cold and wet as they make their way through the course. There are hot showers and changing facilities available at the end of the course for everyone to use.
This 'Extreme Off Road Running Event' is open to Y3-6. School years 3 & 4 will complete the Ankle Biters 1.5km course option while the Y5 & 6 complete the Little Nippers 3km course option.
It is hoped that Amesbury will enter to compete on Thursday 25th May 2023 with an entry fee of around $30 per child. Please register your interest now and Eilís will be in touch with further information.
Pizza Lunch Order Helpers
Do you like the smell of newly baked pizza which you can't eat, but want to help out by putting them into bags for our tamariki to eat at Thursday lunchtimes? Then Rachel has got the ideal job for you!
Seriously though, if you have a bit of spare time around lunchtime on a Thursday then have a read through Rachel's article and, if you are able to help out, please contact her (office@amesbury.school.nz).
Absences
Schools are legally required to account for the safe whereabouts of each child every day, so notification to the school office should be before 9am if students will be more than 15 minutes late or not be attending school.
Please provide a reason for a late arrival/absence as schools are required to record this information. Absence notifications can be made by:
Absence form on the school app *(preferred) or school website
Email – office@amesbury.school.nz
Call/Message – 04 477 3423
Text – 021 86 55 28
If your child arrives at school any time from 9:00am, they must sign in at the office, not in the class/hub.
All absences are to be advised to the office, with extended leave requests copied to the Principal (urs@amesbury.school.nz).
Amesbury Games
The inaugural Amesbury Games will be held on 1 December.
It is a great opportunity for all of our tamariki to try out new sports and physical activities that they have not participated in.
For more information please read through Eilís' Amesbury Games article.
Camp Week
Harakeke Camp Information #2
For the latest details on Camp Week for Harakeke please read through this information which has just been produced.
The latest info for the other hubs, as included last week:
Year 6 Day in Town 2022
Our annual "Day in Town" for our Year 6s will be on Monday 12 December.
Can all Year 6 parents please read through the Year 6 Day in Town article which provides all of the details of what is planned and costs involved.
If you have any questions, please contact your child's whānau teacher.
Poetry Competition
The inaugural annual Churton Park poetry competition concluded on Friday evening with a celebration of the poetry talent of our Year 2-6 tamariki and to announce the results.
We were fortunate to have Helen Vivienne Fletcher, a children’s and young adult author, award-winning playwright and storyteller, to be our judge. She provided feedback on the each of the winning poems. Our sincere thanks to Helen for her time and contributions.
For details of the placegetters and Helen's comments please read the Poetry Competition Results.
Also a huge thanks go to the Churton Park Community Association who provided vouchers to the placegetters, and to Maneesha Fonseka for her organization of the event.
Cyber Safety Information
We have recently been asked for information regarding keeping our tamariki safe online.
Earlier this year we held two cyber safety evenings, with facilitators Rob and Zareen Cope talking with us about the online dangers that face our children. As part of the session they gifted us with this information booklet that has a lot of key facts, useful tips and ideas, and helpful links. Hopefully this will be helpful for families in keeping tamariki safe online.
